Okay so I want to turn first left on this roundabout, here is the exit:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=54.960217,-1.605678&spn=0.000474,0.002146&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=54.960204,-1.605538&panoid=HT4MbNaUI99gD7R-p2zilQ&cbp=12,114.09,,0,9.67

As you can see the roundabout has three lanes. The left hand lane is painted with a left turn only arrow and the middle lane is painted with a straight on only arrow. If you back up a bit you’ll see that the entrance road is also painted to indicate that only the left lane goes left.

So if I want to take that left exit and end up in the right hand lane of its two lanes should I:

A) obey the road markings, stay in the left hand lane, turn off then only move into the right hand lane once I’m off the roundabout?

B) ignore the road markings, take the middle “straight on only” lane then turn left directly into the lane I want at the exit?

I tend to do A but the majority seem to go for B, which means I often get horns tooting when I change lanes on the exit road. 😳

It seems that the middle lane is giving you the option of either bearing left or right at the island. If you bear right, then you’ll be in the right hand lane of that left turn…thus meaning I’d be going for “B”

EDIT: It’s not really a roundabout though is it? 😛

You’re in the right, treat each obstacle as the rules dictate. Handle the roundabout like a roundabout, then change lanes when in the next bit of road. There’s no accounting for morons. That said, that road layout is a farce.

Tricky one that – I would say you are in the right (left) lane but equally the road arrows says straight on in the middle lane but it still filters into the right lane on the left turn so I think they are equally correct.

Just treat it with respect and expect other road users to be confused about how to approach it.

It’s not really a roundabout though is it?

The sign approaching it reckons it is:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=c&cbll=54.960609,-1.606063&panoid=en59aJ8uD4IwBJdlBDqQVg&cbp=12,146.43,,0,-0.52&ll=54.960706,-1.606097&spn=0.000474,0.001635&z=20

But yeah, it’s more “a collection of junctions” 😀

you’re right; they’re **** – but you won’t stop them from doing it

there’s a very similar situtation in Portsmouth that I’ve whinged about before

I often encounter a related roundabout dillema!

When approaching the said roundabout I only have a limited view of the traffic coming from the right given that the road bends.
When the opportunity to proceed arises its often the case that traffic comes from the right at high speed meaning it looks to them that I have driven onto the roundabout slowly into their path, given that they cross the give way lines at 30mph as they can see the way is clear to their right but they are unsighted by me until 20m before this point.

I see this situation quite a lot and the amount of users who feel agrieved that you have actually joined the roundabout and forced them to slow down even though if you didnt there would neve be an opportunity to join!!!

Not sure that makes sense!

I’d say middle lane

I’d use the middle lane of the roundabout/entry road, indicating left and end up in the right hand lane of the exit road. The markings aren’t very good though.

B. You are going to be safer (IMHO) as you will end up in the lane you want to be in, and knowing that it’s possible / likely that another road user might have adopted the A strategy you can be aware of / leave gaps etc for someone pulling out right from the left hand lane into your lane.

Whilst the road indications suggest you do otherwise I’d rather be in the right hand lane allowing people to pull out than in the left hand trying to get into it, especially as there are two lanes.

They should either have a srtaight on and left arrow in the middle lane or a solid white line between the middle and left IMO.

But then again i knocked my own driveway wall down last night turning into my drive so what the F do i know….

I know that roundabout and only last week did exactly the same. I’m with you there, and most times I use it get some clown jesticulating as they clearly know better.

I’d say you’re correct. I expect there are cocks who think it’s perfectly valid to floor it down the outside and then cut in from the wrong lane. These are the people you’re upsetting. But they’re cocks so fill your boots. The more idiots I wind up the better as far as I’m concerned.

Unless they’re the kind of idiots who solve their issues with knives or have rifle racks and bumper stickers that say ‘Guns don’t kill people, I do’.

“What it the correct thing to do at this roundabout?”

A; Get yourself out of Gateshead as fast as you can.

bumper stickers that say ‘Guns don’t kill people, I do’.

saw one in the US last year “keep right on honking buddy – I’m reloading” (lolled, and then let him through 😳 )

Stupid road markings, there should be a chevroned section at the junction to prevent* option B.
There’s one on my commute here road markings say ahead only for middle lane but on the junction there’s lane seperater markings going right so plenty of tools do that (and get stuck in traffic so the ahead lane gets blocked Grrr.

*prevent yeah right, some people think chevroned sections actually mean “reserved for use by knobs in a hurry”

B, although you aren’t necessarily ignoring the markings. Perhaps confusing if you’ve never used the intersection before, but kind of obvious once you’ve seen the lane layout on Charles St. Which road are you joining the roundabout from?

B if i knew the junction
A if i didn’t.

Hmm seems like a similar mix of approaches here that I see on the road. At least none of you have given me the finger yet 😀

They should either have a srtaight on and left arrow in the middle lane or a solid white line between the middle and left IMO.

Stupid road markings, there should be a chevroned section at the junction to prevent option B.

Yep I agree. One of those options would clarify it – think I might send a snooty email to Gateshead coonsil.

A; Get yourself out of Gateshead as fast as you can.

😆 Luckily I only have to work there..

But Charles Street stays as two lanes doesn’t it? And the exit onto Charles Street has two lanes one from the left-turn-only lane and one from the straight-ahead lane. I would choose B and not get too stressed about someone who used the left-turn lane then indicated to get over into the right-turn lane on Charles Street. Unless of course, option B always has a queue and option A has hardly any traffic (when busy).

It’s a two lane roundabout, sign says so. Ignore the road markings and go for either A or B. NEITHER IS WRONG.

buy a 4×4 do whatever you like. Ignore all other road users, whilst making sure that whatever time of the day it is or how bright it is you keep your fog lights on in case some poor fool cannot see you driving badly in your urban tank. if questioned drive over them whilst pointing to your Princees/Cheeky monkey on board sticker as king them to think of the children

Probably middle lane to turn left tbh as it is a bad design to have three lanes going into four and the middle one should also include a left hand turn IMHO Also on th eoutsid eyou can see what the fool on the inside looks like doing so easier to avoid a lane changer as well.
Complain to council as well

Which road are you joining the roundabout from?

A184 from here:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=c&cbll=54.960508,-1.606018&panoid=XclX-c-xxtCVDVuoB5RN7Q&cbp=12,164.99,,0,1.97&ll=54.960391,-1.605943&spn=0.000955,0.00327&z=19

So this is first exit for me (road markings there also indicate that only the left lane goes left).

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOBZc2ccK80[/video]

Take the right hand lane, cane it round the roundabout and indicate left as you approach your exit.

B but you not really ignoring the road markings, taking B will position you in the road suitable for your exit lane.

Rubbish road markings….

The middle arrow should either be forked to allow left OR right turning (to exit left into the right hand lane, or carry on around the roundabout) OR as mentioned above, a chevroned/hatched area should be added to the right hand lane just at the exit to discourage people using the middle lane to turn left into it.

B. But only because I know the junction and everybody else does B.

🙂

But Charles Street stays as two lanes doesn’t it?

Yep, but Charles Street is quite short, I want to turn right at the bottom of it (onto High W St) and the left lane is left turn only, so I have pretty limited time to change lanes if I take option A. When it is busy I can end up blocking the left lane waiting for someone to let me into the right.

Hmm plenty of people saying either, while I agree the road markings aren’t very good surely the lane arrows are definitive/specific whereas the junction layout is only suggestive…?
This one constantly give problems for drivers and causes a lot of horns and fist waving, I have seen 3 cars waiting at those lights and all 3 managed to be in the wrong lane for where they wanted to go.

This is pretty definitive marking but doesn’t stop people driving down the left and over the chevrons.

I don’t think the road markings are rubbish – all they say is that people in the left lane should turn left. They don’t prohibit people in the middle lane turning left as well.

Also, when you turn the corner, the lane that you are now in (i.e. the left of two) appears to be left turn only at the next junction – which you don’t want. You are perfectly within your rights to change into the right lane here but why add complexity. If people are tooting their horns its for one of three reasons: –

1. You are being an idiot and blindly swapping and cutting them up hence toots from the right lane.

2. You are being courteous but the right lane is full of ego maniacs who consider themselves far too important to let anyone in front of them and are firing off “don’t you dare pull in front of me” toots

3. You are being cautious and getting toots from those in the left lane wishing to go about their business but are blocked by you trying to swap lanes

From the journey you describe, I’d use the middle lane and turn left

Sorry, I’m chainging my story, I;ve just moved forwards a bit further on that map and seen that there is a second lane leading off the middle lane.
Middle lane is right then and you’re wrong and a cock.

Unless you settle arguments with knives etc etc.

(really, either lane is fine but you’ll have less hassle in the middle)

As a stranger to town, A.

Once I’d seen the exit road a couple of times, B for me, the arrows on the road are obviously inconsistent with the two lane exit, and the fact that the left lane of Charles St swiftly becomes left turn only.

When it is busy I can end up blocking the left lane waiting for someone to let me into the right.

😆

I’m only joking though 😛

When it is busy I can end up blocking the left lane waiting for someone to let me into the right.

you need to drive to reality not some percieved code sadly, You do have a point but that tells you what everyone else is doing – cant beat em join em?

Rubbish road markings…

They aren’t. The confusion (sort of) comes from the fact that the main road (A184) has a roundabout sticking off a tight left-hand bend, rather than being straight ahead as people might expect. The arrows on the road where the A184 runs parallel to Regent Terrace have to be there to set people up for the junction of the A184 and Hight St. West, where the road goes down to one lane (to continue the A184).

Strictly speaking, for the route Graham is taking off onto the High St., he should always be in the middle lane (marked straight ahead) from his approach to the roundabout from alongside the Interchange. That lane would also allow him to go across the roundabout onto Prince Consort Rd.

If traffic is heavy, I’d say drive straight into the lane you want, don’t blindly follow the road markings. Everyone else has spent far too much of their life waiting for motorists to stop dithering about and get the smeg on with it.

Based solely on the streetview provided in the OP I’d say that option A) is correct, option B) is clearly ignoring the road markings.

However.

I believe that the streetview is misleading. It took me a minute to work out what the hell’s going on, but this is what we’ve got:

The position shown by the OP is already on the roundabout, attempting to exit. Not (as I first thought) attempting to join a roundabout.

If you zoom out a notch or two, you’ll see the roundabout for what it is. The streetview point is on the northernmost side of the roundabout with the left-indicated exit to the north-east.

From the lane markings, we can clearly see that the left lane is “left only” – ie, the next exit. The right lane is “right only” – ie, carrying on around the roundabout. The middle lane says straight on – which is nonsensical when you look at the roundabout as a whole. There isn’t any straight on to take, you’d end up in a traffic island and a bunch of trees.

I can only conclude, therefore, that the “straight on” instruction refers solely to the roundabout at that point, and when you reach the exit you have the option of bearing left or right, to take the right-hand lane of the exit or the left-hand lane of the roundabout respectively. The layout of the junction would bear this out.

So, I’d say that both A) and B) are valid manoeuvres, with the caveat that you’re not really “ignoring the markings” as you’ve obeyed them back when they applied. It said go straight on and you did.

If you’re getting beeped at when trying to change lanes then perhaps you need to ask why; are you barging across without indicating, or is the left lane relatively clear so you appear to be trying to queue-jump, perhaps?

I interpret that one as:

left lane – turn left only
right lane – turn right only (continue around the junction, it isn’t a roundabout by the normal definition)
middle lane – either as the lane splits, there are no markings to imply a change of lane or carriageway.

However I only interpret it like this having driven it lots of times and deciding that any other interpretation renders the RH filter lane of the LH exit pointless. If I came to it anew I would likely interpret it as in A. and be surprised when I got to the exit and all the locals had decided that B. was the way forward. Remarking would help certainly.

I don’t think the road markings are rubbish – all they say is that people in the left lane should turn left. They don’t prohibit people in the middle lane turning left as well.

Don’t they? I thought the straight-on arrow marking meant “straight on only“. Doesn’t it?

i.e. When you see markings like this:

to me that means you can only go left to “City” from the left lane.

They aren’t. The confusion (sort of) comes from the fact that the main road (A184) has a roundabout sticking off a tight left-hand bend, rather than being straight ahead as people might expect.

Aaah… so you’re saying that although there are 3 exits from the roundabout (left, ahead and right) – the first/left exit is actually also straight on because it is a continuation of the same road, which is on a corner?

That almost makes sense in a very twisted way. But doesn’t that mean you’d then have to be in the right-hand only lane to go straight on since you are saying there are effectively two rights? 😕

The position shown by the OP is already on the roundabout, attempting to exit. Not (as I first thought) attempting to join a roundabout.

Good theory Cougar but the entrance road (A184) to the roundabout has the same markings.